


No Longer Silent

by loki_of_jotunheim



Series: Pride 2019 [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Closeted Character, Day of Silence 2019, Homophobia, Pride, Pride 2019, Pride month 2019, Queerphobia, TW: Homophobia, pride month, tw: queerphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 07:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19080331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loki_of_jotunheim/pseuds/loki_of_jotunheim
Summary: I originally wrote this for the 2019 Day of Silence, which was on April 12 but I didn't get around to posting it. This is a poem I wrote when I was still in school, still scared, still closeted, still silent. I figured I'd post it for Pride Month 2019 as a reminder that while we have achieved a lot, the queer communities battles really aren't over.





	No Longer Silent

"I'm not worried about other students."

I tell them. 

"I'm worried about what happens if administration finds out. 

I'm one month away from freedom."

I'm not... I doubt I even have the right to speak. 

But I am exactly what...

What this is for.

I have gotten good at silence.

Quickly flipped sketchbook pages.

A flick of the thumb on my screen.

Resisting the urge to make harmless jokes,

They could ruin everything.

Earlier,

My classmates mocked the use of the word queer.

It was because it's associated with us that they laughed.

Even now, 

I sit surrounded by elementary and middle school kids.

They like me...I think...

Would that change if they knew?

Their parents?

Would I be allowed to volunteer here,

If they knew I was...

If they knew I'm...

I'm sinful,

They say.

I chose this, 

They whisper.

But it's never been a _choice_.

But if I speak out, I could be expelled. 

Even wearing a shirt with my flag on it underneath a jacket is an act of bravery.

I'm almost free, I whisper.

Soon I won't have to be silent anymore. 


End file.
